Adventures in Iowa

We have been busy out here in old Iowa.  Rich's schedule has been much lighter this semester.  Hallelujah!!  We are trying to eat at all of our favorite restaurants before we move (yes it has already been 3 years...we can't believe it).  So we hit up Zombie burger.  Super filling and fattening.  Just our kind of place.  Rich ordered the Trailer Trash Burger which had an egg on it and fries.  I can't remember the name of mine but it had all sorts of ooey gooey blue cheese on it.  Divine!

Below is Henley before feeding time.  The girl gets just as excited as her mom about food.  Basically the only thing I passed on to her.  Awesome.

Cosmic bowling.  The scores show how terrible we are.  My first 5 bowls went straight into the gutter. The system gave me one pin though on the first bowl probably because it felt bad for me.  The cosmic lights were a little much for Henley.  She was whizzing her head around so much at one point, I thought it might pop off.

For Valentine's Day we hit up Cheesecake Factory.  I can't get enough of that place and their Chicken Di Pana.  Henley and Richard were dream dates.

We went with a few friends to the YMCA and Henley got to sport her new flamingo swimsuit.  Probably the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Henley's V-Day outfits below.  She was smiles all day until I turned the camera on.  Then it was all stares and blank faces.  

Christmas In A Nut Shell

• We weren't planning on going home for Christmas this year.  Had a baby.  Made it happen.  Three weeks of awesomeness in Utah.
• Visited the Hanks' first.  Niccole finally meets Henley.
• Hanks' white elephant party.  Always some good inappropriate gifts brought.
• Rich's Christmas Eve flight was cancelled due to a "sick" crew member.  Lots of tears from an emotional wife.  
• Mustache growing contest...you can't see Rich's mustache in any pictures.  Next year they will have to do a neck beard contest so he can actually participate.
• Christmas Eve: lots of food, games, ping pong competition and more food
• Christmas Day: split between Hanks'/Bell's - tons of gifts and the whole side of the Bell's met the babe.  It was a little stressful for me, however Henley handled it like a champ.  Favorite gift was some clip in bangs believe it or not - I still can't figure out how to make them look cute in my hair.
• Swimming and sledding multiple times
• Henley's blessing (I'll post more about that later)
• New Year's chaos at the Bell's.  I had a really hard time staying awake until midnight.  Apparently I'm 80 years old.
• Ombre'd/melt my hair.  Still unsure if I like it and I don't have a good picture of it because I'm stubborn.
• Colds and the flu.  Not a Utah trip without it.
• Loved every minute of it.  Bitter sweet leaving Utah behind and heading back to Iowa.

A Month of Firsts

 First time looking like a Kardashian baby in her leopard print.

 First time experiencing snow.  She wasn't sure what to think of it.

 This picture really isn't a first since she is constantly drooling.  Just a really cute picture.

First and last time falling asleep by the Christmas tree.  She usually ended up talking to the tree and laughing.  They had a hilarious and special relationship.  

 First time to see Santa Claus which she was indifferent/unimpressed with.  She kinda blends in with Santa's shirt.  Who knew he would be wearing a long sleeved Christmas shirt from Walmart?  What happened to the red soft coat with white fur on the sleeves?!

 First time she was pleasant after putting her in the "straight jacket" before bedtime.

First time she realized her voice was making the loud screaming noise.  Ever since then it is hard to get her to stop babbling.  

Confessions of a Hypocritical Mother

 Just a few confessions here.  My train of thought has changed quite a bit since having a baby.

• We will tote the baby all around town and she will be sooo cultured due to all of the events we take her to
• I used to find myself getting unintentionally irritated with parents who were not flexible with their children's schedules.  No longer.  We have Henley on a loose schedule and often times decide the things we used to love doing aren't always the best for a baby.  There is definitely a balance with this one.
• I will have all the time in the world to cook, do projects, keep the house spotless and start some new hobbies...
• I have no clue what I do all day and yet I feel so busy.  Having a child has not domesticated me.  In fact Richard said the other day when someone asked how often I cook "She actually cooks less now than when she was working."  Can't deny that. 
• Sleep deprivation, not that big of a deal.  I used to only get a few hours of sleep each night in college and I was fine
• Not the same.  Is it because I am older now or if staying up late in college usually meant doing something fun???  All I know is that when I am sleep deprived I walk around with a little bit of crazy in my eye.  Come to find out, I need sleep.
• Crying it out can't be that bad
• So far this method is something we have not been able to do.  Bunch of softies.  We know we will eventually have to do it and it will pay off, but can I please not be home?!
• Other random things I have learned
• Never make a batch of cookies in the middle of the day when you and the baby are the only ones home.  I end up eating at least half of the dough and then another five cookies once they are baked.  The inner tube around my middle is the proof.
• I will never say I won't do something because I will almost definitely do it or be extremely tempted to.
• The longer I'm a parent, the less I know.

               

 

Hello...she's smiling now.  Love it!

Visitors & Holidays

October and November have been very busy months.  Here is a little recap.  We had TONS of visitors from my family.  My mom came for a full week once the baby was born.  She was a God send.  And yes I cried like a little baby after dropping her off at the airport, all the way home, and most of the afternoon.  I am pretty sure reality had just set in and I knew I was going to be home with this baby with not a clue what to with her.

My cute younger sister and her husband Steve dropped by for a couple of days. 

 My older sister came for a weekend and helped us out while on her way home from a conference in Chicago.  

And then again in November, both my parents came for five days and we had the best time.  Maybe I should say, Richard and I had the best time.  We were able to go on a date...I was pretty worried about going but once we were gone I was fine.  It was unbelievably nice to have some time with just the two of us.  My parents also were amazing and took a couple of the night feedings.  That was the first time I had more than three consecutive hours of sleep since Henley had been born.  Pure heaven.  

Then of course there was Halloween.  The Graff's held their annual Halloween bash and we went as robbers.  I have always really loved dressing up for Halloween and it made it even more fun this year with a baby.  As you can see, she didn't love her hat.  It was ripped off multiple times before we gave in and took it off all together.

Traditional pumpkin carving.

For Thanksgiving we celebrated and ate ourselves to death with the Graff's, Allen's, and Obryant's.  Once again I decided to make homemade pie (including the crust).  Last year it ended in a lot of swearing and tears after I scalded myself with the filling and the crust edges all slumped in the middle of the pie after being baked.  Richard asked me multiple times why I was doing it again and there was no logical explanation except I felt like I had to defeat the crusts and to torture myself.  Outcome, the crusts won.  Slumped edges.  But on the bright side I didn't get burned or mad this year.  So I considered it a success.  Maybe next year.  We also had to take a picture of Henley with the football to prove we held the tradition of throwing around the old pigskin for the holiday.  Now on to Christmas!!  Is it sad that I always have a very big list of items that I want?!  I thought that would maybe stop as I got older.  Nope.

Just Because I Can't Help Myself

If you are sick of seeing baby pictures, please don't proceed reading this post.  I warned you. 

One of her calm moments with a headband on.  I think she is finally getting used to them.

Her Zoolander face.  Ben Stiller would be proud.

First piece of mail.  It had to be documented.

Very tired mama

Hilarious

Pumpkin Patch

Every year since I have lived in Iowa I have wanted to go to a pumpkin patch and an apple orchard to pick our own produce.  Both of these activities need to be done in the day and since I am not currently working it was easier to cross one of these off the list this year.  I gotta be honest, I was a little disappointed.  On their website it said that we would be able to go into the pumpkin field and pick our own pumpkins.  Apparently the pumpkin field is a grassy area with only perfectly picked pumpkins.  It was fun and I’m glad we did it, but a little anti-climatic.    

The pumpkin patch visit occurred while my cute sister and her husband were in town.  They sure are troopers.  Firstly, they decided to DRIVE to Chicago (from Utah) for their fall break and along the way they were sweet enough to stop by Des Moines for a couple of days.  Also, they were super understanding about working around Henley’s feeding schedule and doing a lot of sitting around since at this point I was still quite frightened to take her out anywhere.  (Still not completely over that).  We had a ton of fun with them and probably provided a good dose of birth control they probably weren’t expecting :)

Sadly, the only picture I took with Sharice

Her first height chart...she was thrilled